Data Product Owner

Tasks:

Data is key in supporting evolution: data is increasingly an enabler for decision-making processes (operational, tactical, strategic). However, we face several data-related challenges:

• Roles and responsibilities regarding data management are not clear and aligned today,
• Issues with the timely/quality delivery of data initiatives,
• …

To meet these challenges, the client wants to focus on:

• Introduction of data domains. All data are divided over domains, every domain is assigned to an owner. The owner then becomes accountable for the data in his domain. He is supported by the data steward, who is responsible for monitoring data quality, etc.
• The switch from IT-led data products to business-led data products. The responsibility for high-quality, timely delivered data products lies within the business. The development of the data products is to be done via multidisciplinary (business and IT) teams and is led by a data product owner.
• Extensive training and coaching to support the transition.
• Governance of all this is important and will also be set up.

Before planning a rollout of the new roles and responsibilities, business data products, and supporting training and governance across the organization, several pilots will be set up to test and refine the approach.

We are looking for a data product owner for these pilots, but later also for the final products. The following activities, among others, are part of the duties of a data product owner:

• The Data Product Owner is accountable for the development of the strategic vision and the end-to-end lifecycle of one or multiple Data Products;
• He/she will therefore manage a long-standing product team
  (containing business and IT members) to ensure the Data Product realization;
• Refines the scope of the Data Product(s) and how the data should be treated;
• Understands the needs of the customers of the Data Product(s)
• Together with the Data Owners of the domains concerned, the DPO will define the SLA’s of the data it will serve to the organization. These SLA’s are formalized through data contracts that describe the services offered by the team, guarantee a certain completeness and correctness, … of the data, indicate who to contact in case of an issue, and also provide security and privacy details such as the criticality, confidentiality,…;
• Manages the budget for the Data Product(s);
• Manages the backlog of the product team based on the requests from consumers, considering business priorities;
• Provides status updates to governance bodies and the consumers on the evolution of the consumers’ requests,
• Promoting the product across the company and engaging with various stakeholders to further develop the product;
• Collaborating with procurement in the context of tendering processes;
• Advertising the importance of data management;

Requirements

• Degree in business, economics, computer science, engineering or a similar field,
• Several years of relevant experience as a Product Owner in complex environments, preferably with a focus on data products and/or the energy industry,
• General understanding of data mesh
• General understanding of data technologies (e.g. databases, data warehouses, analytics tools, stream analytics, self-service approaches, …) is a plus
• Agile development experience,
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across teams and levels of the organization.
• Stakeholder management abilities at the interface between business and IT,
• Strong analytical and planning skills.
• You have a customer-oriented mindset

Language skills: English (C1); French or Dutch are a plus.